World Inside the Saudi King’s 1,500-Person Entourage in Moscow

10:30 06 october 2017

10:30 06 october 2017 Source:
Bloomberg

Saudi Official Fired After Textbook With Yoda Image

The photo showed Saudi's former King Faisal signing a U.N. charter with the <em>Star Wars</em> character.In a class on the United Nations, the textbook showed King Faisal, then foreign minister, signing the global body’s charter in 1945 with the famous green character sitting next to him.

Saudi Arabia' s King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud arrives at Moscow ' s Vnukovo Airport on Oct. Members of the royal entourage also replaced some of the hotel staff with their own personnel, who know exactly how they like their coffee made, the person said.

(Bloomberg) -- Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz brought 1,500 people, a golden escalator and his own carpets on his historic, four-day state visit to Russia, a person familiar with the matter said.

The 81-year-old leader of the Gulf kingdom exited his plane late Wednesday and stepped out onto the special escalator he travels with. But something went wrong: It malfunctioned halfway down, and he had to walk the rest of the way. A cavalcade of cars sped the monarch to the center of the city, flanked by Russian police escorts.

Top Saudi Education Official Fired After Yoda Shows Up In History Textbook

Proofread or do not, there is no try.Mohammed bin Attia Al-Harthi, the Saudi Arabian education ministry’s undersecretary for curriculum and education programs, was fired this week after an edited image of Yoda, the iconic “Star Wars” character, showed up in a history textbook, Saudi-owned television channel Al Arabiya reported on Monday.Per the report, education minister Ahmed Al-Issa also fired “others responsible for the mishap who reviewed and approved” the image of the late King Faisal, then a prince, signing the United Nations charter in 1945 with Yoda by his side.

Saudi Arabia' s King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud arrives at Moscow ' s Vnukovo Airport on Oct. Members of the royal entourage also replaced some of the hotel staff with their own personnel, who know exactly how they like their coffee made, the person said.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9_kahrh-LW0&feature=youtu.be&t=25s

During the first visit to Russia by a Saudi monarch, the two countries have already struck a deal on weapons sales and discussed ways to continue to cooperate on stabilizing the oil market. And as they have done in other cities, the Saudis made themselves at home in Moscow.

A Saudi plane is traveling daily between Riyadh and Moscow to transport supplies, said the person, who said that 800 kilograms (1,764 pounds) of food has been brought in. Members of the royal entourage also replaced some of the hotel staff with their own personnel, who know exactly how they like their coffee made, the person said. King Salman, who’s staying at the Four Seasons, also came with his own furniture.

Saudi authorities pursue Twitter user over women's driving threat

Saudi Arabia's public prosecutor issued an arrest warrant on Saturday for a Twitter user who called for anyone who supports women driving to be killed.The Twitter user, who was not named, was alleged to have referred to men who support women driving as "cuckolds who should be killed," according to state-linked Asharq al-Awsat newspaper.

King Salman of Saudi Arabia is expected to arrive in France later on Friday for a Riviera beach holiday, bringing with him no fewer than 1 ,000 people from his entourage . While the king ’ s three-week visit is a boon for the local economy

In a time when travellers fret over bag fees, leave it to a Saudi king to show us how the world’ s wealthiest travel. Heading to Indonesia for nine days as part of a regional tour, Saudi King Salman bin Abdul-Aziz brought along 1 , 500 people and more than 450 tonnes of cargo.

The Saudi government booked two entire luxury hotels for the visit: the Ritz Carlton and the Four Seasons. The latter had to ask some guests to cancel their reservations to make room—and even moved out people who live in the hotel permanently, people familiar with the matter said.

A doorman dressed in red livery at the Four Seasons said the entire hotel was booked through Oct. 8 and wasn’t open to the public.

Representatives from the Ritz and Four Seasons declined to comment. The Royal Court in Riyadh didn’t respond to a request for comment on size of the delegation.

U.S. presidents also travel with large entourages, including a bullet-proof limousine and a Secret Service protection force, and sometimes also book entire hotels. Former U.S. President Barack Obama stayed at the Ritz in Moscow during a 2009 trip, and President Donald Trump also stayed there in 2013 for the Miss Universe contest that he owned.

The bill for fully booking the two hotels during the visit may run about $3 million, not including what the delegation will spend on services, restaurant meals and spa treatments, said Vadim Prasov, vice president of the Federation of Restaurateurs and Hoteliers of Russia.

—With assistance from Glen Carey

To contact the authors of this story: Ilya Arkhipov in Moscow at iarkhipov@bloomberg.net, Henry Meyer in Moscow at hmeyer4@bloomberg.net, Evgenia Pismennaya in Moscow at epismennaya@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Lisa Fleisher at lfleisher2@bloomberg.net, Gregory White

Moscow faces surge of fake bomb calls, prompting evacuations .
Moscow is grappling with a slew of fake bomb calls that have prompted the evacuation of shopping malls, schools, railway stations and administrative buildings. The Tass news agency says there were over 100 anonymous bomb warnings in Moscow on Friday. No explosives have been found.Friday's calls were the latest in a wave of fake bomb threats that have haunted Russia for a month, prompting evacuations of tens of thousands of people and incurring massive economic damages.

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Saudi Arabia' s King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud arrives at Moscow ' s Vnukovo Airport on Oct. Members of the royal entourage also replaced some of the hotel staff with their own personnel, who know exactly how they like their coffee made, the person said.

Saudi Arabia' s King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud arrives at Moscow ' s Vnukovo Airport on Oct. Members of the royal entourage also replaced some of the hotel staff with their own personnel, who know exactly how they like their coffee made, the person said.

King Salman of Saudi Arabia is expected to arrive in France later on Friday for a Riviera beach holiday, bringing with him no fewer than 1 ,000 people from his entourage . While the king ’ s three-week visit is a boon for the local economy

In a time when travellers fret over bag fees, leave it to a Saudi king to show us how the world’ s wealthiest travel. Heading to Indonesia for nine days as part of a regional tour, Saudi King Salman bin Abdul-Aziz brought along 1 , 500 people and more than 450 tonnes of cargo.

Saudi Arabian King Salman to visit Indonesia in - Business Insider - www.businessinsider.com

Saudi Arabia' s King Salman will visit Jakarta and Bali on the Indonesian leg of his Asian tour next month, bringing 1 , 500 people in his entourage including 10 ministers, Indonesian officials said.

In 2015, he and his 1 ,000- person entourage caused the closure of a French Riviera beach for three days. Don't worry, the Saudi King had 500 limousines ordered into Tokyo to ferry him and his crew around the capital.

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